Prevention Versus Disease Treatment

Today when we talk about prevention and health care we are often referring to early detection and treatment. This really is not prevention at all. True prevention is a lifestyle that prevents the occurrence of a disease.

True prevention is very difficult to quantify. If you are taking a good quality multivitamin and you do not catch cold, did the multivitamin prevent the cold? If you do all you can to enhance your immune system, you can't prove that it really prevented a disease. When you contrast this was a medicine. You get sick. You take the medicine. And if you get better you credit the medicine. The truth is in very few circumstances do drugs bring about healing. They ultimately must work in conjunction with the natural healing modalities of the body in order for one to recover.

It is much like the story about the ambulance or the fence. There was once a small town on the edge of the cliff. Part of the people in the town believed that they should build a fence at the top of the cliff to prevent people from falling over. Another part of the people believed that they should buy and maintain an ambulance to take care of the people who fell over the cliff.

The dilemma that we face today is much more complicated than this however. Even though you take the very best preventative measures you can still fall victim to degenerative disease. We have no idea what is the root cause of some diseases. There are environmental factors that did not even exist a few years ago. So which group do you find yourself in, the group that favors the fence or the group that favors the ambulance.

I believe the answer lies in the middle of the road. It is important for us to do everything that we can and that we are aware of to prevent disease. It is also equally important that we seek competent medical care when we do get sick. The challenge is that our system is out of balance.

We spend a very disproportionate amount of our health care dollars on treatment versus prevention. I believe that this is largely due to the fact that we don't know what preventative measures really work. There is a large amount of confusion and misinformation in the areas of prevention. One group will stress the importance of exercise. Another group will stress the importance of good diet. While yet another group want you to put your faith in supplements. You can literally find support for any position that you want to take. What works for one person may not work for another person. Because of all the confusion many people have simply given up in any form of disease prevention. The answer really lies in a well-balanced program. There are several simple things that you can do which have stood the test of time in the prevention of disease. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all because we are all different. A lifestyle coach can be very helpful. They can steer you clear of many things that are fads. They can help you evaluate the pros and cons several different programs and help you find a solution that will work for you.

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